The U.S. economy's job creation ability disappointed in December, despite solid hiring in manufacturing and construction, according to government data reported Friday.

While the unemployment rate held steady at the 17-year low of 4.1 percent, employers added just 148,000 new hires in the final month of the year, far below expectations, and even below the sluggish 155,000 reported in December 2016.

A Cypriot court on Friday jailed a former CEO of Bank of Cyprus after he was found guilty of market manipulation by deceiving shareholders in the lead-up to a banking system meltdown in 2013.

The British government announced plans Thursday to distribute £330 million ($447 million, 371 million euros) taken from dormant bank accounts to good causes, bringing the total handed out to almost £700 million.

The Dormant Accounts Scheme was established in 2008, allowing the reallocation of money from accounts in which there have been no transactions for 15 years.

Egypt's grand mufti has said that bitcoin is forbidden in Islam, warning the digital currency could be used for criminal purposes.

Swedish carmaker Volvo, owned by the Chinese Geely, said Thursday that booming demand in China helped it notch up record sales for the fourth consecutive year in 2017. 

The British government said Thursday it will match European Union subsidies for farmers for around five years after Brexit until it puts in place a new system focusing more on environmental protection.

Spain's jobless queue shrank by 7.8 percent last year, the labour ministry said Wednesday, as unemployment continues to recede from the record highs seen in 2013 during the economic crisis.

Qatar said Wednesday that the two state-owned firms running the country's natural gas business had merged in a move aimed at cutting costs and creating a global energy giant.

The legal cannabis sector is expected to generate $40 billion and more than 400,000 jobs by 2021 in the United States, according to a study released Tuesday.

Asian equities continued their positive start to the year on Wednesday following more record closes on Wall Street, but the dollar faced further selling pressure.